What Ember said
by Nightwingstar
Summary: Sam's been acting weird since Ember came to visit, she's not overshadowed but her goth outlook on life has been turning darker by the days. One night stargazing she asked Danny a question. Oneshot!


Well another one shot, i always wondered how Ember died and while you're typing stuff on your comp, and you're surrounded by books you tend to get sidetracked and add a bunch of different things

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Ember was crying. Not just any type of crying, sobbing while holding onto Sam. "Is that really why you died?" Sam breathed, Danny was busy fighting off Skulker when Ember just flew into her room and began crying telling Sam about how she died. 

"He was the only one to say my name. I mean really say my name. When he died at war Desiree had shown up and I had wished to let him have all the time I had left so he could live. So he came back to life and I died. He felt horrible that I gave my life up for him. He didn't forget me though but he's married now and has two kids. Thinking back on it, it seems so foolish that I let go of my life like that. Don't ever die to protect the one you love, to protect them you should live." Ember whispered drying up her tears; Ember began to pull away from Sam slowly.

"Get away from her!" Sam and Ember's attention turned in the direction of the voice. Danny Phantom came visible in the room, the Fenton thermos in hand, knocking Ember off of Sam. "I don't know where you're doing here but you're going right back!" Danny pulled out the Fenton thermos and sucked in Ember. "Sam, are you alright?" Danny changed into his human self and knelt by Sam as she sat on her bed.

"I – I," Sam began, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked away from Danny and began crying.

"Sam, are you cry – " Danny began; reaching a hand out to hers she hit his hand away.

"Don't look at me." Sam cried. She buried her face in hands, her shoulder racking. "Soon," Sam sobbed, "I'll be fine, soon I'll smile again."

"Okay." Danny said simply, pulling her into a hug, letting Sam cry into his shoulders, having her arms wrap tightly around him. "I'll be here waiting." Danny said softly into Sam's ear.

"Sam!" Danny called, waving towards her after school from his locker down the hall. It had been several weeks since Sam had talked to Ember. Sam ran over to Danny and Tucker with a smile on her face. She had been able to smile for over two weeks now. But most of her smiles were for Danny and only for Danny.

Like Ember said, her true love was the only one to ever really say her name. Danny was the same for Sam. If Tucker said it, her parents, or whoever, they could never really say Sam's name except for Danny. Sam found herself thinking fondly as Tucker and Danny talked along the way home from school.

They were stargazing again, Sam realized later on that night, Tucker had dosed off again and Danny was looking through his telescope. Last time they stargazed Ember had shown up, Sam frowned at the though. "Do you want to see Sam?" Danny caught Sam's attention. Sam nodded taking a look through Danny's telescope. The stars were bright and you could hundreds and thousands of stars. "That one in the center," Danny began, "is the North Star, it leads the way to lost sailors."

"I remember that." Sam smiled softly. "I also remember a certain Phantom wants to become an astronaut when he grows up." Her voice was soft as she laughed towards the sky. "I wish the North Star would show me the way." Sam sat at the edge of the Op center.

"Really, where to?" Danny asked, sitting beside Sam. To him Sam had been acting odd since the encounter with Ember. There were no signs like Ember had injured Sam but something had hurt Sam on the inside and Danny wanted to know what it was.

"To someone's heart." Sam gazed up into the sky. "Danny," Sam caught the boy's gaze, "do you remember when you went to fight the King of Ghosts?" Danny nodded. "Do you remember that we felt like you would never come back, that you would die?" Danny nodded again. "If you died and I gave up my life to bring you back, what, what would you do?"

Danny looked at Sam quizzically. Why was Sam asking her such an out of a blue question? "I would want to ask you why." Danny followed Sam's gaze towards the stars. "I would want to die because it's your life that you're letting me live. I would want to know why you did something so stupid. I would have been happy if you continued to live on without trying to bring me back."

"But I wouldn't be happy!" Sam burst out, her voice was sad, breaking Danny's heart. She was staring at Danny; her violet eyes brimmed with tears

"But I would feel guilty for taking your life." Danny replied, looking downcast. "Would you really want me to suffer like that just so you could be happy?" He glanced at her confused. This question was random but it had him thinking of what Ember did to Sam while he wasn't there.

"Ah," Sam began but placed her forehead on Danny's right shoulder and began crying. "That makes me seem so selfish for not taking your feelings into account. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Sam was shaking violently and would've fallen off the Op center if Danny hadn't grasped her.

"Now what was the purpose of that question?" Danny asked, lifting Sam's face up and wiping away her tears with his thumb. Sam's cheeks tinged red slightly before she looked away.

"Ember," Danny's eyes flashed green at the mention of the ghost, "she told me how she died. She died to protect the only person who could ever really say her name." Danny glanced down at a sad Sam with his blue eyes, confused. "She actually gave me advice. She said that I should never die for the one I love to protect them, if anything I should live."

"So," Danny paused unsure if he should ask the question. "Does that mean you love me?" Sam pulled away from Danny and stood up.

"I've got to be heading home, it's really late now." Sam replied and walked into the Op center to get to the Fenton house.

Ember was the reason Sam was acting weird, Danny thought as he woke up Tucker to go inside. Sam didn't answer his question, of course it was an odd question but she could've said no. It must've been a hypothetical question to Danny, since he did almost die. But who could Sam like? For some reason Sam liking another boy bothered Danny. She couldn't like another boy, she was Sam; she was his Sam.

Danny shook his head as he climbed into bed, Tucker sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor. Danny couldn't possibly, he did. Danny had fallen for Sam unaware the whole time he had his crush with Paulina and Valerie. When Danny closed his eyes he could only see Sam, laughing or talking like she used to. How did Sam get this close to him? Danny wondered as he fell asleep that night.

During school Sam was staring blankly at a bug crawling around in a jar that Lancer had brought to school. Danny thought Sam was fascinated by the bug but why would she? What made that bug so special?

Why didn't the world stop? Sam thought coldly as Lancer threw away the bug hours later, it had died in its jar. The bug's world stopped by why didn't the world stop for the bug? If I died in the bug's place the world wouldn't stop just for me.

Perhaps ghosts don't like that, Sam thought, tapping her pencil on her desk. Maybe they're angry or sad that the world didn't stop for them and decided to stay until the world finally stopped. Maybe Ember didn't like the fact the world didn't stop for her love. Ember questioned why her world was still going without him. How could she continue without him? So she gave up her all the time she had left of her life just for him so his world didn't have to end just yet.

Why did life suddenly look like the weak side of the world? Sam stood up in the middle of class and left. She heard Lancer yelling and Danny calling but it didn't matter. Life just seemed so cruel, why couldn't everything be dead so you didn't have to wonder where you would go?

"Sam!" Danny's voice snapped Sam's attention away from her hands. She was sitting on one of the bleachers on the football field. "Why did you walk out like that? Did it have to do something about that bug?"

"Sorta." Sam shrugged; Danny sat next to her transforming to his human self. He had been flying around to find her. "The world didn't stop for the bug when it died. The world won't stop for me or you when we die. It'll keep going, my world would stop when I died but the world won't stop for me." Sam said softly.

"Life seems so cruel Danny." Sam looked into Danny's eyes, her violet eyes hurt and confused. "When you live you have some many doubts, fears, anger, and flaws. You only have a certain amount of time to live through it all. Your world ends when your life expires. When you die there's no more flaws, fears, anger, or anything because you'll just be a thing that was there once but died. When you're dead, that's it your times up, no more fears or doubts, it just kinda goes poof and you're not allowed it anymore. Whether or not you're a ghost or your just dead you lose that feeling of being alive with those doubts that you can only live for the moment."

"That's why you have to live for today." Danny smiled, taking Sam's hand. "You can only live for a certain amount of time. Enjoy your doubts, your flaws, anger, your fears. So live for today, so if you become a ghost you can remember how fun it was to be alive."

"Yeah, I guess so, I'll live for today, Carpe Diem, Seize the Day." Sam smiled at Danny. "And when I die or you die our worlds won't end because we still know we have memories of each other."

"So are you gonna answer my question from the other night?" Danny asked as he walked towards the school with Sam, still holding hands. Sam blushed slightly.

"I rather live for today and keep you guessing. Who knows, I might have another day to tell you." Sam smiled, breaking free from the contact, running ahead of Danny.

"Sam, come on! I wanna know!" Danny began chasing after Sam. Sam laughed as she was being chased around the school from her best friend. She couldn't think her life was better, with Danny there. She could only think happily on what Ember really meant on protecting a loved one.

I won't die to protect you Danny, I'll live and protect you in my heart.

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it call came from my anime junkieness but it tied into together about death and how you should never just give up on life. 

ah but i like my moral of the story, it's good. so...

Cape Diem!

Live for Today :D

Please read and review.


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